Thursday, May 27, 2010

The one with the Finale Madness

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While May means college graduation to many (I graduated 2 years ago, yikes!), for the last 8 years, it's meant the crowning of a new American Idol! (Kelly Clarkson, the first Idol, won her title in September and then they changed it from there on out).

Anyways, normally I'd make a big spectacle of watching the Idol finale with friends. I went through the effort of requesting an early shift in order to ensure I could watch the finale episodes, so one would think I'd make plans to watch it with some friends. But I didn't. So I settle in to watch the antics of Simon's last Idol and what ensued really made me stop and go "hmmm times really are changing." Let me explain.

Although technically I watched the American Idol finale alone in my room, I felt as though I were watching it with several different people due to the marvels of modern technology. Every commercial break I received a phone call (ground breaking technology that phone lol) from someone (usually Emily) with comments about what had just happened. During the show I received and sent commentary text messages to friends watching it at their homes (I counted roughly 100 texts received in the 2 hour time span and countless sent). And I had a real-time discussion of the night's events with my friends Autumn and Drew via Facebook. All of the chatting, texting, calling made the finale way more entertaining and after it was over, I felt like I had experienced the finale with my friends even when some of them were back in Minnesota.

Essentially, when technology bridges the gap from MN to FL and makes it feel practically non-existent and allows me to continue with friendships despite the distance, I can't help but think it's a good thing. It is when technology starts becoming a substitute for actual in-person communication that I will begin to worry. But anyways, I am getting too in depth for my own good and literally just spent the last 20 minutes debating with myself  the future risks of relying too much on technology.

So on that note....lol


The best part of the night though was right after they announced that Lee had won, I called my friend Emily and told her that for her birthday, I bought us 4th row tickets to the American Idols live tour! I was going to wait to tell her on her actual birthday, but with the excitement of Lee winning, the timing was just right!

Anyhow, despite my desire to write more (I have news I am dying to share, but when the time is right!), I must continue onto other things on this wonderful sunny day in Orlando. Thanks for checking in, my friends =)

Monday, May 3, 2010

The One where I'm a Floridian, I guess

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April was a pretty insane month with a lot going on. I've wanted to write about but no time to really do so, my apologies!

First and foremost, I bought a car! And this time I'm keeping it! =) It's a 2007 Saturn Ion and she is a beauty. I named her Marilyn for 2 reasons. 1st, Marilyn is the name of the lovely woman I bought it from and 2nd, the fact that the car is white reminds me Marilyn Monroe so I thought it was fitting. Alfred (the husband) and Marilyn, the couple I bought it from, are the nicest people ever. They had no reason to sell the car other than the fact that they just didn't need it because as a retired couple, they go everywhere together so don't really have a need for 2 cars. So really, it was the ideal situation for me because buying a car from a person can be questionable since lots of times used cars have problems. However, after the last fiasco with the car dealer, I really did not want to buy from a dealer again so I searched high and low for a good deal on a used car and I am fairly certain I found THEE best deal in all of Florida. It's so nice to finally have the whole car situation figured out! Now let's just hope this one runs for a long, long time!

The day I picked up my car was also the day I flew out to Las Vegas for a little family reunion! It was me, my Mom and Step Dad, my sister, my 6 step siblings, my siblings' spouses and my Grandma, so a total of 16 of us and it was technically just the immediate family! My parents didn't allow any grandkids on the trip so it was the first time in at least 10 years that we had all been together without any kids running around. It was a fun but really quick trip! We jam packed all the sight seeing we could into 2 days! The highlight had to be seeing Miranda Lambert in concert. I took the video below when Blake Shelton came out for the finale to sing a little song called Hillbilly Bone.



All in all, things are kind of feeling to start like they are falling into place here in Florida. I'm officially a Florida resident, so says my Florida drivers license, but I will always be a Minnesotan. It was so weird in Vegas because a guy asked us where we were visiting from and my sister said "Minnesota, but she's from Florida" No I'm not!! I'm from Minnesota too! I just happen to be living in Florida! As you can see, I'm still adjusting to the idea that I'm a Floridian. Having yet to survive a Florida summer, I feel as though I cannot rightfully call myself a Floridian just yet, or if I'm even sure I want the title. My mom thinks I'm allergic to Minnesota because my allergies are a lot worse in MN than here, it's an interesting hypothesis.

Speaking of my madre. She made a quick visit here for 3 days to see me and take her death trap convertible back to Minnesota. I was worried the car wouldn't make it back to Minnesota but it did, shockingly! I think the car is a little Christine-esque and prefers my mom and therefor only breaks down in my possession.

Anyhow, I must get going! I start training tomorrow for coordinator and 7am is insanely early so I am going to attempt to go to sleep at a decent hour. Wish me luck.


Bonus Features:
1) I just watched the first episode of the new show Happy Town. It's set in Minnesota (which is the only reason I wanted to see it) but filmed in Canada (which is abundantly obvious to a Minnesotan) and I just gotta say, I love the show portrays Minnesotans as crazy and/or socially awkard. Minnesotans, so poorly understood by the outside world haha
2) I got asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Shanelle's wedding!! It will be my first time as a bridesmaid and I couldn't be more excited!
3) If you haven't heard by now, Nashville is flooded like mad and I just saw pics of Tami's neighborhood (the neighborhood I lived in while in Nashville) and I cannot believe how high the water is! The entire neighborhood is filled with water at least 4 feet deep. I feel so bad for Tami and everyone else in Nashville. Not gonna lie, kinda glad I'm not dealing with that right now if I still lived there!